Advances in neurolinguistics and computer sciences afforded researchers the chance to work together in ways never possible before, primarily due to releasing the restrictions that language imposed between the disciplines. Human-human and human-computer communications were simplified, and the resultant comprehension allowed research in all realms to increase in pace and efficiency. Across the planet, a number of institutes were established where scientists could gather to pursue research free of oversight and free of approbation, regardless of subject. Usually administered by inter-colony committees of leading scholars, these institutes were devoted to the propagation of scientific knowledge; many were involved in educational projects, publishing and the awarding of academic grants. As technology progressed, holo-lectures and neural implants have been offered by the institutes with the goal of increasing the sum of scientific knowledge. While some practical applications have been developed at the institutes, the most significant discoveries have been theoretical, as the interdisciplinary collaborations have engendered new ways of melding mathematics, the hard sciences, and the social sciences. Entire new branches of scientific inquiry have been launched at the institutes. Most recently, the scientists and analysis at several of the institutes have turned their attention to deciphering the “Signal,” with as yet unforeseen results.